A new update for RezOvation GT is available today!  The new version is 5.3.1.61 and includes the following features:

• GDS (global distribution system) integration, which allows you to provide availability on sites such as Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz, Hotwire, and through distribution networks including Sabre and Pegasus. Additional fees apply if you wish to use this service. Please contact sales@rezovation.com for details on how to sign up.
• Reservations By Date report, which shows reservations booked based on whatever date range you choose. This report can be accessed from the Reports menu under Reservations.
• Revenue by Item report, which details all items sold based on revenue date (extras and rooms).
• Revenue by Rate Type report, which summarizes total revenue by rate type booked (e.g. Rack, BedandBreakfast.com, etc.)
• Revenue by Package report, which details sales by addon and lodging packages.
• Phone number masking for all list and edit views (including customer and reservation lists). This setting can be turned on by going to Configuration > Additional Settings > Lists and Occupancy Map.
• Auto refresh for all lists and occupancy map. This will refresh the lists / occupancy map on whatever interval you choose (30 seconds - 15 minutes). This setting can be turned on by going to Configuration > Additional Settings > Lists and Occupancy Map.
• For more features, as well as bug fixes, take a look at the release notes.
  

 

Austin, TX– Less than four months after the successful transition of the Webervations system, RezOvation is pleased to announce a sweeping set of product enhancements for Webervations 1.0.  First on the list, the encryption methods used on all credit cards entered into Webervations have been extended and upgraded to provide a much greater level of security, on par with that used by BedandBreakfast.com and RezOvation GT and Desktop products.  A number of additional security procedures were put in place, including the removal of access to credit card information through direct or unencrypted links.  Innkeepers can rest assured that their data is now safer than ever --- another step taken to protect the industry from potential theft and fraud.

To add to the security features, effective immediately, Webervations will no longer be accepting or storing CVV or CVV2 numbers as per the PCI compliance guidelines.  PCI regulations expressly prohibit the storing of CVV numbers for viewing.  Any system that provides this feature to innkeepers is in violation of PCI regulations, and innkeepers who use systems that provide this feature should know that they can be held liable for using non-compliant systems.  RezOvation is committed to ensuring that innkeepers have a system that enables them to have both the best security, as well as one that clearly follows PCI guidelines.  By the end of May, a new Webervations feature will enable users to customize their credit card retention policies.  Innkeepers will be able to choose how long they retain credit card data – they can delete it immediately after a booking is processed or retain it until a guest checks out.  This auto-delete functionality is similar to functionality that has been very well received by RezOvation GT users.  Innkeepers can hold onto sensitive data as long as they wish; all sensitive data can be deleted automatically based on their specific settings.

Webervations users who are also BedandBreakfast.com members will also be delighted by another new feature:  Webervations can now be used to manage rates and inventory, and receive reservations directly from BedandBreakfast.com, Expedia, hotels.com, Kayak, Sidestep, Nextag, and coming this fall, Travelocity!  BedandBreakfast.com recently signed an agreement with Travelocity to feature BedandBreakfast.com bookable properties on Travelocity websites, moving one step closer to the goal of getting B&Bs sold on every major online travel directory through a system that is easy for  innkeepers to manage.  Rates and inventory automatically synchronize across all systems, and reservations show up immediately in the Webervations system.  It takes only a few minutes to set up the new feature, and customers who already use the BedandBreakfast.com Online Reservations program can easily switch over and use Webervations for management instead of the BedandBreakfast.com Online Reservations Manager.

Additional improvements to both Webervations 1.0 and 2.0, as well as to RezOvation GT are planned for the summer months and will be announced as soon as they are ready.

We're proud to annouce the latest update to RezOvation GT, version 5.1.6.20.  This release includes many important bug fixes, along with the following features:

•  Added a "copy rate type" feature which allows you to both copy an existing rate type to a new rate type, and copy rates between one rate type and another. You can also automatically adjust rates by a specified amount. This is particularly useful if you are part of the BedandBreakfast.com online reservations program, as you can copy rates from your Rack rate to BB.com rate and automatically adjust the rate. 
  

• Added template codes for "add-on packages" and "lodging packages" to the Housekeeping report.
• Added template code for "room description" to confirmation letters, folios, registration card, follow up and reminder emails, housekeeping report, and reservations reports. This code is [sRoomsDescription] and will display descriptions for any rooms added to a reservation.
• Added a "guest notes" template code to the reservations reports.
• Added a "Quick select" feature to the reports viewer which allows you to quickly select a date range such as "today", "this month", "last month", etc.
• Added a cancellation warning to the Customer edit and Reservation edit screens which asks you to confirm cancelling changes when clicking the cancel button or close (X) button.
• Improved the organization of the Configuration screen.
• Improved the reservation list "taken by" custom filter to be a picklist instead of a text box.
• SQL Express 2008 is now installed by default with new installations.

Read more here.

We will be performing maintenance on all the RezOvation & Webervations servers Wednesday April 8th between 12am - 5am.  During this time, some websites and services may be intermittently unavailable, including the Webervations admin site, Webervations booking engine, RezOvation booking engine, and RezOvation application data synch (portal synch / server synch).   

Atlanta, GA – RezOvation, the leader in property management systems for inns, B&Bs, hotels, and specialty lodging announced the launch of a fully online version of its RezOvation GT 5.0 Property Management System product today at the annual Professional Association of Innkeepers International (PAII) conference. “This is not a scaled-down web-based PMS with limited functionality that requires numerous clicks to get anything done,” explained John Banczak, COO of RezOvation. “This full-blown hosted version of our RezOvation GT product is complete with all its robust features, right down to the user interface, credit card processing, and connectivity to sites like BedandBreakfast.com, Expedia.com, hotels.com and Kayak. It’s a huge leap forward in the feature set and usability of an application that can be accessed via the Internet.” RezOvation GTO is part of an increasing number of sophisticated hosted applications that have been enabled by advances in technology and bandwidth. Just two years ago, providing these features in an online application would have been cost prohibitive, but as storage, processing power, and bandwidth have gotten more affordable, hosted applications have become an extremely appealing option. The beauty of a true hosted application lies within the user interface; hosted applications enable a user experience that exactly mimics a true installed application, so features like dragging and dropping can be accomplished easily, whereas in HTML they are cumbersome at best.

A hosted application also offers great flexibility to innkeepers who can use the exact same product on either their desktop or online, at exactly the same pricing. If innkeepers prefer the speed and security of a locally installed application they can select that option; if they prefer the flexibility of remote access they can choose that instead. Pricing for the software with the Booking Engine will be the same regardless and innkeepers can switch at any time. The other appealing aspect of a hosted application is the flexibility with which users can access the system. Innkeepers can access the product directly via a website on any PC or Mac computer via Internet Explorer. Options even exist to have a robust iPhone interface, or to use a USB login key for the ultimate in security and accessibility.

For more information, or to sign up, please contact our sales team at 866-565-1800 or Sales@RezOvation.com.

Read more ...

RezOvation, the leader in property management systems for inns, B&BS, hotels, and specialty lodging with its RezOvation GT 5.0 Property Management System product, announced that it has passed full PA-DSS credit card security certification. “Our GT product is one of the first products in the world to have completed the new, more rigorous payment application certification standards,” explained John Banczak, COO of RezOvation. “Our customers can now rest assured that RezOvation GT has undergone the most stringent data security testing procedures available and is fully approved for credit card processing and data storage.”

Credit card security is quickly becoming a critical issue for all small merchants that accept credit cards, including B&Bs and small hotels. Any third-party application that a small merchant uses to capture, transmit, store, or process credit cards must be fully certified by 2010 – whether it is an online application, a website shopping-cart, or installed software – and small merchants are scrambling to find software that is approved, appropriate, and affordable. By July of 2010, just over a year away, credit card processors must ensure that all of their merchants are using only fully certified applications. In addition, merchants using third-party applications that are not certified cannot become PCI compliant. Many credit card processors are already enforcing compliance or are charging additional fees to non-compliant properties. RezOvation is already seeing a huge demand from its customers for certified applications and encourages properties to become PA-DSS complaint well in advance of the 2010 deadline to avoid the expected last-minute rush.

Read more ...

We released an update this week to RezOvation GT, and the version is now 5.0.4.255.  Some features include:

• Reservation Wait List. To add a reservation to the wait list, create the reservation using the Add Reservation button. Do not assign a room to the reservation, and enter any other reservation details (guest name, notes, payments, etc.). Click the Actions button and select Add to Wait List. To view the wait list, go to the Reservations list and click the "Wait List" button on the left hand side.
• Minimum night stay enforcement when booking a reservation via the Occupancy Map or Add Reservation screen. If the dates you have selected to not meet the minimum night stay requirements, a message will appear when you click the "Book" button, and you will be asked if you want to proceed.
• Packages by day of the week. You can now restrict packages so that they are only available on specific days of the week. This is useful if you want to set up mid week specials, etc. This feature works both for bookings made through RezOvation GT and through the Booking Engine.
• Custom colors for the Booking Engine. You can now choose what colors are used for the Booking Engine buttons and header images. Currently, there are 6 colors to choose from, and more will be added in the future.
• Fax confirmations for Booking Engine & BedandBreakfast.com reservations. To configure this option, simply enter a special email address into the Automated Notifications section under Configuration > Online Reservations > Global Online Reservation Settings. Simply enter your fax number followed by @metrofax.com, e.g. 5125551212@metrofax.com.  Do not use a prefix such as 1 or 9.
• Improvements to the data synch process. For example, if you move RezOvation GT to a new computer, and forget to uninstall / disable RezOvation GT on your old computer, you will be prompted to register the data synch on your new computer. This helps to ensure that data is always synched to our servers.
• Booking Engine display improvements. The Availability Calendar now displays room description when you mouse over room picture, and the room name is now displayed in the photo viewer (photo viewer is accessed by clicking on the room picture or room name from the Availability Calendar, or by clicking the Enlarge link from the select room list).
• Many bug fixes.
  
• Read the release notes ...
  

 

 

Some users have reported that they are still having problems receiving emails from Webervations, in particular those using local internet providers.  We have now made some additional adjustments to our email servers which should alleviate this problem.  If you still are unable to receive emails from Webervations (either from our support team, or automated email notifications from the system), please do the following:

- Check your spam filter to ensure that emails sent from Webervations.com are not getting filtered.  Because we have new email servers, your spam filter may consider our emails as spam and filter them.

- Contact your internet provider or email provider and ask them to "unblock" or "whitelist" our email server addresses.  They may need to allow the following range of IP addresses:

64.244.121.80
64.244.121.81
64.244.121.82
64.244.121.83
64.244.121.84
64.244.121.85
64.244.121.86
64.244.121.88

You can also request to whitelist the entire range from 64.244.121.80 - 88

If you continue to have problems, or receive any email bounce messages, please contact support@webervations.com or call 740-380-3807 and provide as much detail as possible.

Our Ohio offices, where our Webervations support team is located, are closed today as the entire region is without power.  If you have an urgent question, please call RezOvation technical support at 866-565-1800 or email support@rezovation.com.

We do not expect power to return until tomorrow, but will keep the blog updated with status.

UPDATE 1/30: we now have power at our Ohio offices, and our support team is available today.

Hello everyone,

We are experiencing severe (category 3) winter weather in Logan, Ohio, and everyone in that region has been instructed by local authorities to stay home due to dangerous road conditions.  We do, however, have a very limited staff in the office today, so we appreciate your understanding if our response time is delayed today.  In the event that we will need to completely close the offices tomorrow, we will let you know.